Learn me Log Home edition

So in my on again off again searches and wonderings about what to do with my house, I had a thought of a log home. 

Please tell me why this is a terrible idea, especially in southwestern Pennsylvania.

What I do know about them:

Labeled, ready to assemble kits are cheap ($30-50k)

There are floor plans that fit my slabs footprint, and would actually be bigger than the house I have now

They're very attractive, but would stick out a bit in my neighborhood

Shipping of the kit from factory to home could be expensive

What I don't know:

R values or insulation abilities

Weather proofing

Assembly cost

Maintenance/upkeep

Yeah round livability. 

Would it really be a bad idea? Does anyone currently have one either as a house or cabin?

Having seen them on TV in all kinds of bizarre climates, am I over thinking the rain/snow/humidity?

What kinds of questions should I be asking if I start shopping them?

Once you get the walls warm, they stay warm.  Electrical wiring is odd.  The logs shrink for years, so interior walls that are stick framed are attached to logs through slots. 

That's all I got.  The PBS dude that did Hometime built one many years ago, and I think the show was pretty complete.  Maybe see if it's out there in cyberspace somewhere.

Edit: Yep.  YouTube.

I've built a few. 

First question... are you doing it because it's cheap?  

Its not. 

Expect framing labor to be about 4X conventional labor.

Plumbing and HVAC will be 25 % higher (everything has to have chases built it accommodate)

Electrical about 2-3X (its very labor intensive drilling every log as they are installed to run wires)

Its highly unlikely your slab will work- all the load points are different, and footers are usually larger. 

The kits can be installed by DIYers. Assuming the DIYer knows how to install logs. There is a lot more to it than stacking up Lincoln  logs. For example, an 8' high wall can shrink over 6" before it is dry. Every wall, cabinet, window, porch, or anything that attaches to more than 1 log must be built with slots, and methods to accommodate significant movement. 

Insulating properties are very good- thermal mass. Draft sealing varies by the system/ manufacturer. 

Maintenance and upkeep- more significant than the log companies will tell you. The logs should be resealed every 2 years, chinking caulking and sealing repaired annually. Again, huge amounts of movement...

I loved living in one. I didn't like maintaining it. 

I also did repairs on log homes which had not been maintained... VERY difficult and expensive. 

In reply to SVreX :

Package Price is why I'm considering the idea. 

My thought is even if assembly labor is equal to kit cost, it appears cheaper than rebuilding the current block and stick house and considerably cheaper than moving, as well as letting me keep my land and shop space. 

But, modular homes started out looking like that, then by the time transport, assembly, site prep, etc was factored in the price basically tripled. 

I'm having E36 M3 luck on Google searching for actual ownership experiences, just finding stupid listicles about why it's so awesome, and some downsides to consider like sealing and caulking every few years, and keeping on top of bugs. As well as an extremely broad definition of "kit". 

Can they be built on an existing slab or do they need a lot of special ground work first? 

Is there a good way to connect them to a block extension? Weird question, I don't think I worded it right. My garage and my house are connected by the laundry room, most walls of the laundry room are block, and I would kind of like to keep that connected area with whatever route I go. The well pump, laundry machines, sewer output, and electrical entrance are all there. 

Right now, my options as far as I can tell, are tear down and rebuild entirely, tear down and replace with a log cabin home, or sell and move somewhere I'll like even less. 

I feel like renovating would be easiest, but the more I look into it, the higher that price gets too, and since there's only so much money available, and it's getting less and less for me every year, I need to start making some decisions to get the best bang for my buck while I still have some.

Edit: I was writing this post when you put up your last one. Those numbers are bigger than I expected, crap. 

Cheapest option is going to be stick frame reconstruction. By far. 

I have a 200 year old log house.  It's a classic 16'X20' and is oak and poplar.  I don't know what new ones are made of, but ours has lasted a while.  Occasionally it gets coated with log house sealer, but generally it's maintenance free.  As long as the logs don't stay wet, they last.  Wiring, framing, and plumbing can be challenging.  I recently re-framed the upstairs floor and basically it's make it up as you go.  Ours has had a few additions and remodels over the years, which can be tricky because you can't cut the tie logs.  I have a short door that I can't fix because, due to previous work, the only tie log left on that wall is directly above the door.  Ours is nice and warm, but the walls are about 16" thick.  I like ours, but I wouldn't buy a new log house.

SVreX said:

Expect framing labor to be about 4X conventional labor.

Plumbing and HVAC will be 25 % higher (everything has to have chases built it accommodate)

Electrical about 2-3X (its very labor intensive drilling every log as they are installed to run wires)

Its highly unlikely your slab will work- all the load points are different, and footers are usually larger. 

The kits can be installed by DIYers. Assuming the DIYer knows how to install logs. There is a lot more to it than stacking up Lincoln  logs. For example, an 8' high wall can shrink over 6" before it is dry. Every wall, cabinet, window, porch, or anything that attaches to more than 1 log must be built with slots, and methods to accommodate significant movement. 

Insulating properties are very good- thermal mass. Draft sealing varies by the system/ manufacturer. 

Maintenance and upkeep- more significant than the log companies will tell you. The logs should be resealed every 2 years, chinking caulking and sealing repaired annually. Again, huge amounts of movement...

I loved living in one. I didn't like maintaining it. 

I also did repairs on log homes which had not been maintained... VERY difficult and expensive. 

Yikes! That sounds terrible. 

Grandpa had one at the family vacation spot. It stayed very warm, and all things considered it was pretty close to maintenance free. BUT that place was at least 40 years old when he bought it. He had it re-sealed once. One addition onto it--that was not done in log. 

I'll say that when I did a tiny bit of work on it (re-installed a bathroom door after the bathroom had flooded) it was a real pain. You know how nothing is really square on a house? It is *really* out of whack on a log cabin.